Leaping up from the sixth overall spot in the 2019 Financial Times Executive MBA ranking, Jouy-en-Josas, France’s HEC Paris claimed the top spot in the publication’s newest release.
The rest of the top five, however, remained similar to the previous year. The joint Kellogg/HKUST Business School program slipped from first to second overall, and the HEC Paris/LSE/NYU: Stern Trium Global EMBA moved back one spot, while EMBA-Global Asia: Columbia/HKU/LBS and CEIBS both maintained the same spots, fourth and fifth overall, respectively.
According to FT, HEC Paris’ large jump, supplanting the Kellogg/HKUST Business School program’s top spot after three consecutive years, was because of the program’s remarkable career progress rank (first overall), in addition to a high work experience rank (fifth).
Still, HEC Paris fell well behind the former number one program, Kellogg/HKUST, when it came to one particular category: expected salary. Kellogg/HKUST grads typically see an astounding $513,014 annual salary (USD equivalent), which might seem like a calculating error when read out loud, but is very much true. HEC Paris EMBA graduates typically see expected salary ranges north of $400,000.
With such astronomical salaries, its worth repeating that the world’s premiere EMBA programs are exceptionally competitive, typically reserved for selected applicants that already have a wealth of work/management experience. Partially because of this, FT notes, the dynamics of the world’s EMBA programs largely remain stable while many full-time MBA programs are finding it more difficult to enroll new students.
However, with enrollment stability, many programs still suffer from some of the age-old issues that can stifle management programs like gender parity. FT notes that some schools, like the joint EMBA between Olin School of Business at Washington St. Louis University and Fudan University, have near gender parity in its most recent class (49 percent), many schools often see female enrollment at rates in the low 20s.
FT EMBA Ranking by the Numbers
- Only five programs produced graduates with average annual salary rates north of $400,000 USD (or equivalent), with four out of the five in the top five. Grads from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University: Antai EMBA enjoyed the fourth highest salary in the entire ranking, while the program itself was ranked 11th overall.
- The University of Toronto Rotman School of Management saw the largest jump among schools in the top 50, moving up to 29th overall from 47th last year.
- Among programs in the top 25, the Carey/SNAI EMBA provided through Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business saw the biggest leap in 2019, moving up from 25th overall to 13th overall.
- The Nanyang Business School, NTU Singapore EMBA saw the biggest fall in the top 50, slipping from 18th overall in 2018 to 37th this year.
For the full breakdown of the new FT EMBA Ranking, click here.